For the second consecutive week, the Calgary Stampeders got a field goal as time expired to claim a Canadian Football League pre-season victory.
Friday night in Regina, it was Rene Paredes kicking a 42-yard field goal on the final play of the game to give the Stamps a 33-31 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium. A week ago, it was Rob Maver taking care of the late heroics in a win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
The Stamps finish the pre-season 2-0 and will open the 2012 regular campaign on Canada Day — Sunday, July 1 — by playing host to the Montreal Alouettes. Kickoff at McMahon Stadium will be at 5 p.m.
“We played hard for 60 minutes,” Stampeders head coach and general manager John Hufnagel said of Friday’s contest. “I thought we played with fairly good discipline. We didn’t really give them too many extra opportunities. It was a good effort.
“I tell them right from the beginning what are priorities are (in the pre-season). No. 1 is to get a great evaluation of our players and No. 2 is to win the game. That’s why we’re out here. That’s why they keep score.”
A 28-yard touchdown catch by Ismael Bamba with less than a minute to play had given the Roughriders a 31-30 lead but rookie quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell twice connected with Marquay McDaniel on the final drive to put Calgary in field-goal position.
Drew Tate, Kevin Glenn and Mitchell combined for 343 passing yards.
“We moved the ball a little better this week than we did last week,” said Hufnagel. “At the beginning of the game, we stalled a little bit and we didn’t get the ball in the end-zone (until) the end of the first half. That was the Drew Tate-Nik Lewis Show.”
Tate and Lewis combined on three passes in the dying stages of the opening half including a 22-yard scoring strike to give the Stamps a 17-13 lead. The touchdown answered a 12-yard rushing major by Saskatchewan’s Kory Sheets.
Until then, the game had been a battle of field goals as as Paredes hit field goals of 30, 11 and 21 yards while Saskatchewan’s Chris Milo connected from 27 and 32 yards. The Stampeders also got a 52-yard punt single from Maver.
Saskatchewan went back ahead on the first possession of the second half as Willy Drew connected with Chris Getzlaf on a four-yard touchdown pass.
A 55-yard punt single by Milo made it 21-17 for the home side.
The Stampeders answered with their own scoring drive, this one capped by Matt Walter’s four-yard run.
Then the field-goal kickers went to work again with Paredes hitting from 27 and 40 yards and Milo from 52 yards.